Survey: Facebook preferred over LinkedIn for job search

Thursday, December 13, 2012

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The survey brings out an interesting trend of today’s job seekers who actively log into Facebook and rely on this informal network of friends, co-workers, and even bosses to stay updated about latest job openings.

These are the findings of a recent Social Job Seeker Survey 2012 conducted by Shine.com and social recruitment platform MyParichay. The survey highlights the popularity of the social network - Facebook in job search, over more formal platforms like LinkedIn, which caters specifically to professional networking. The survey brings out an interesting trend of today’s job seekers who actively log into Facebook and rely on this informal network of friends, co-workers, and even bosses to stay updated about latest job openings.

There’s good news for those on the lookout for jobs via social media networks – specifically Facebook.

Recruiters to reach out to job seekers

According to the survey, 59 percent job seekers credit Facebook and personal connections, over LinkedIn and other professional connections, with their current job. Further, Facebook also fared better as a site that people can rely on for career progression. These results point towards the growing need for recruiters to connect with job seekers on a platform that the latter constantly use to engage with friends and colleagues, and discuss among other things, new employment opportunities.

Job referrals through social networks

Most companies today lay stress on finding the right candidate, who would fit well with the company culture. The successful practice of employee referral programmes is another reason why recruiters will find it beneficial to explore the personal network of job seekers and reach out to even their friends who match the skills and requirements of the company.

Understanding the need to tap this vast network of job seekers on Facebook, Shine.com in partnership with MyParichay, has announced a plan to integrate recruitment services on Facebook. Shine MyParichay will be one of its kind tool in India. It will enable recruiters to establish connections with candidates and also reach out to the latter’s personal networks, match their skills and requirements and use a referral feature to connect with these potential candidates.

Talking about this collaboration, Amit Garg, Business Head, Internet Business, HT Media, said, “We are venturing into a new zone which will make us the first Indian job portal to integrate Facebook hiring solutions with our mainstream offer. Seeing the results of our latest survey, where 65% respondents say they are more likely to use Facebook over LinkedIn for job search, it makes sense for us to have the first-mover advantage and become industry leaders, providing our clients cutting-edge hiring solutions. We really look forward to integrating Shine.com and MyParichay, changing the landscape of social hiring in the near future.”

Key findings that show how job seekers rely on Facebook:

38% of job seekers have their boss listed as their friend on Facebook.

77% of job seekers will use Facebook if the site offers control over keeping private and professional connections separate.

Facebook has 4 times more the number of profiles than LinkedIn. It also has 28 million more profiles that fall in the prime hiring age group (which is 18 – 34 years) than LinkedIn or even the popular job portal, Naukri.com.

Only 8% jobseekers have LinkedIn profiles whereas 60% are only on Facebook.

48 percent respondents updated their Facebook profiles with professional information.